The late Queen Elizabeth II's favorite marmalade was the latest food brand to fall victim to shrinkage after its manufacturer reduced can sizes to response to rising costs.
Wilkin & Sons has downsized its Tiptree marmalade jars from 454g to 340g, citing rising energy and raw material costs in recent months.
The size reduction means one of the new jars will cover about five fewer slices of toast. , at 20g per serving (approximately one tablespoon).
Retailers' suggested price for jars has been reduced from £2.79 to £2.59, but despite this reduction, shoppers are still paying significantly more per 100 g of marmalade.
Marmalade has been heat-shrinkable
The move makes Tiptree the latest in a long list of food brands with smaller, more expensive products as manufacturers struggle to keep up with rising costs, a practice commonly referred to as «shrinking.»
< p>Representative of Wilkin & The sons said, “We regret having to raise our prices, but the unprecedented pressure on energy and material costs is hitting us hard. As always, we will do our best to produce the highest quality products at reasonable prices.”
The spokesperson added that the company had considered many pricing options for its marmalades and had not made the decision lightly.
She said: «We did not want to offer our marmalades for more than £3 and decided to reduce the size of the can rather than raise [the price] well above the £3 mark for the existing 454g range as we felt it was too expensive. an obstacle for many consumers.”
Wilkin & Sons has been supplying British monarchs since 1911 and currently holds a Royal Warrant from the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Time to visit the Wilkin and Son's Jam factory in Tiptree. Photo: Alpha Press
The late queen even bonded with Paddington over their shared love of marmalade in a video released last year for her platinum anniversary.
A sketch in which a bear offers the late monarch a marmalade sandwich from his hat during cream tea at Buckingham Palace was announced as Bafta's TV Moment of the Year on Tuesday. TV Awards. It is one of six nominees selected by a jury of media experts who will be voted on by the public.
Marmalade — what is missing?
Shrinkflation is not a new food and beverage trend and has been for much of the past decade.
From toilet paper rolls to confectionery, more than 200 consumer products shrank between 2015 and 2017, according to Office for National Statistics data released in 2019.
However, more than In the past year, the pace of shrinking has accelerated due to a sharp increase in the cost of ingredients, energy and other raw materials.
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Notable examples revealed by The Telegraph include Mini Cheddars, which reduced the size of the cookies in January and made them less cheesy, and Magnum, which cut four-pack whole ice cream but kept the price the same.
Supermarkets, as well as manufacturers have been criticized for shrinking. Grocers are facing complaints from farmers that they are downsizing strawberry baskets to cope with rapidly rising costs.
Wilkin & The history of Sons goes back hundreds of years. The Wilkin family first ventured into fruit canning in the nineteenth century, launching the first Tiptree preserves in 1885.
In 2010, the company celebrated its 125th anniversary of manufacturing in its home county of Essex.
“We are committed to offering the highest quality products at reasonable prices and we believe this reduction in can size is the most a smart option to offer consumers a product they can afford at a time when the cost of living for everyone has risen dramatically,” the spokesperson said.
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